Mashpee School Boss Pleads Not Guilty to Charges in Student Residency Case

CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Mashpee Superintendent of Schools Brian Hyde

FALMOUTH – Mashpee School Superintendent Brian Hyde pleaded not guilty Thursday morning in Falmouth District Court to misdemeanor charges of breaking and entering and trespass.

A clerk magistrate found probable cause on Wednesday to move forward with criminal charges against Hyde for entering a student’s home during a residency check in September.

He was released on personal recognizance and will return to court for a pre-trial conference on November 13. Hyde left the courthouse immediately after the arraignment without commenting to reporters.

The Cape and Islands district attorney’s office filed an application for a show cause hearing last week on the charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor and trespass.

Marilyn King, the mother of the student involved, alleges that Hyde trespassed into their home during his investigation.

Hyde previously issued a statement that the incident on September 29 was a routine residency check to determine whether a student, who had moved out of the district and then returned, was a resident of the town.

But King, who had recently purchased a house on Windsor Way in Mashpee, said Hyde arrived at the home unannounced and entered uninvited to search her daughter’s room.

After the incident, Hyde sent out a prepared statement explaining his side of the story. “Mashpee Public Schools has a student registration practice of completing a home visit to all new or returning students and confirming residency,”

Hyde wrote. “As a result of residency laws, school choice criteria, and regulations addressing the education of homeless students, the registration process for students is more complex and requires greater documentation than in the past.”

By MATT PITTA and MATT MCCARTHY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter